6. Organic farms protect farm workers from exposure to chemicals when they work in the field and also protect surrounding wildlife and neighboring homes and schools.
7. Organic animals are fed all-organic feed and are never given growth hormones or antibiotics, which helps protect us all from the increasing presence of antibiotic-resistant germs in our environment. Organic regulations also help ensure that animals raised for food are treated more humanely and are given access to the outdoors or pasture.
8. Unlike conventional farmland, organic fields help reduce global warming by sequestering carbon in the soil (visit the Rodale Institute at Rodaleinstitute.org to learn more).
9. Organic farming conserves resources by using recycled waste products to fertilize fields, while synthetic fertilizers are petroleum-based.
10. Organic farming protects our oceans from excessive synthetic nitrogen fertilizer runoff that is a big contributor to “dead zones” in our oceans. It also helps protect our drinking water from pesticides that leach through the ground and into our waterways.
11. While it costs more to produce organic food, which makes it more expensive, we believe that in the long run it’s a better value. The hidden costs of conventional farming include environmental degradation and increased chemical burdens on our bodies.
12. Organic farming builds healthy soil with more organic matter and less erosion. Because organic farming methods improve the health of the soil rather than continuously depleting it, organic farming is often called “sustainable” farming—it’s part of the solution to ensuring the availability of healthy food for generations to come.
For a taste of Myra and Marea’s delicious recipes from Straight from the Earth, check out the following…
This article originally appeared as on Relish